GBVF declared a national disaster - but what has changed for women? - IOL
Police discovered the body of the ninth woman in Dawn Park, on the East Rand, in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, Gauteng on Thursday. The discovery of the bodies has prompted renewed concern about the safety of women in the area.
Gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) were classified as a national disaster in November 2025, following mounting public pressure and protests over the crisis facing women in South Africa.
The classification was announced by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa after the Head of the National Disaster Management Centre determined that GBVF met the threshold for a potential disaster under Section 23 of the Disaster Management Act. The move placed primary responsibility for coordinating and managing the national disaster on the National Executive, in terms of Sections 23 and 26 of the Act.
The private sector, communities and individuals were also urged to intensify prevention and risk-reduction efforts.
Fast-forward to September 2026 and the discovery of multiple women's bodies in Ekurhuleni, including Kempton Park, has once again placed the country's femicide crisis under the spotlight. Police are investigating possible links between the cases, but have cautioned that it is too early to establish whether the deaths were committed by one perpetrator or are otherwise connected.
For many South Africans, the circumstances surrounding these deaths are difficult to comprehend. Behind every body is a woman who had a life, aspirations, relationships and a family that now has to deal with her loss.
This raises a difficult question: what has the declaration of GBVF as a national disaster achieved, and what difference has it made to the safety of women?
It is deeply troubling that women continue to live with the fear of violence and that communities continue to mourn women whose lives have been violently cut short.
The latest deaths should not be viewed only as individual crimes. They should also prompt an examination of prevention, policing, investigations, prosecutions, support for victims and survivors, and the effectiveness of the structures established to confront GBVF.
What is happening to women in South Africa demands more than declarations and programmes. It requires sustained action, accountability and a society in which violence against women is confronted by government, communities and men themselves. | NATASHA NAIDOO Durban
